Vivienne Tam - Fashion Designer Encyclopedia

Born:
Yin Yok Tam in Guangzhou, China, 1957.
Education:
Graduated from Hong Kong Polytechnic University; also studied in London.
Career:
Designer, New York, 1982; established East Wind Code, and designed first
collection, 1982; designed Vivienne Tam signature collection, 1993;
launched first collection under the East Wind Code label, 1994; designed
controversial Mao collection, 1995; Mao collection subsequently
incorporated into the permanent archives of the Andy Warhol Museum,
Pittsburgh, PA, and Museum of FIT, New York; signed with Candie's
to create line of spring shoes, 1996; opened New York store, 1997; signed
exclusive licensing agreement with Itochu Corporation for distribution in
Japan, 1998; announced plans for two freestanding stores in Japan, 1998;
designed interior for the new Alero from Oldsmobile, 1999; opened Tokyo
store, 2000.
Awards:
People Weekly
's 50 Most Beautiful People, 1995; Outstanding Alumnus, Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, 1997; nominated for Council of Fashion Designers
of America Perry Ellis award, 1997.
Address:
550 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10018, USA.

Publications

By TAM:

Books

China Chic,
with Martha Huang, New York, 2000.

On TAM:

Books

Stegemeyer, Anne,
Who's Who in Fashion, Third Edition,
New York, 1996.

Harlan, Heather, "Y2K: A Fusion of Time & Place,"
in
Asian Weekly,
7 October 1999.

——, "Downtown Funky in New York City," in
Asian Weekly,
29 September 2000.

Landler, Mark, "An Empire Built on China Chic," in the
New York Times,
31 December 2000.

"Vivienne Tam Defines China Chic as Fashions with a Western
Twist," in
Associated Press,
6 January 2001.

***

By combining culture, classic style, and an offbeat flair to her fashion
design, Vivienne Tam has become one of the 21st century's most
unusual and successful contemporary designers. The key to her
achievement is her ability to design with an eye for East meets West, an
inspiration that comes from her current home, New York City, and her
childhood home, Hong Kong. Bringing these cultural inspirations together
in her designs, she is able to design clothing of traditional elements
with a modern edge. Her collections are perceived with the idea that
each person's personality will bring out different aspects from
within each design.

Tam's success was preceded by a childhood of turmoil in China. In
an effort to find a better life after the 1949 revolution and to rid
themselves of the Communist political system, the Tam family moved to
Hong Kong. At first, Tam stayed behind with her grandparents, but soon
relocated to Hong Kong to be with her parents. She entered a Catholic
school, where she became Vivienne Tam instead of her birth name, Yin Yok
Tam. At age eight, she learned to sew by watching her parents stitch
clothing. She remained with her parents until 1982, when she moved to
New York. There, she hawked her designs from a duffel bag to Henri
Bendel and a couple of the city's shops.

By the end of the 1980s Tam had created her own company, East Wind Code,
and was designing in earnest. She gained acclaim and controversy with
her early 1990s collections, including the notorious "Mao"
collection where she and Chinese artist Zhang Hongtu added unusual
touches to the former Chinese leader such as a bee on his nose or
putting his hair in pigtails. Chinese customers were outraged; Americans
found the t-shirts and jackets amusing and the height of fashion.

Tam's collections in the late 1990s were lively and awash in
color, often mixing religious symbolism with Asian art, silver, red, and
beautiful embroidery becoming her trademarks. With her spring 2001
collection, aptly titled the Year of the Dragon, came varied images of
dragons adorning the clothes, clearly portraying her Asian inspiration.
During the fashion show, "Birdsong" played as the models
glided down the runway in embroidered fabrics, again in bright color
combinations. Susan Redstone, writing for the online fashion site
FashionWindows, applauded the "the exotic fringed mint pointelle
camisole and dress" paired with "a lime silk eyelet
skirt," as well as the "chartreuse metallic halter tee and
turquoise sequin dragon embroidered skirt."

In an interview with Heather Harlan from
Asian Weekly
about her spring 2001 collection, Tam told her, "Many of the
prints and patterns in the collection are the result of the views from
my terrace [in New York City]. I love watching the light shimmering as
it plays with the architectural corners and angles of buildings against
a grey and bluish evening sky." The results included a Chrysler
building-inspired black and white print dress, sequined skirts mimicking
city lights sparkling in the darkness, and a pink metallic dress
Redstone likened to "sidewalks glittering under the pink glow of
street lamps." The collection also artfully mixed hard and soft,
uptown and downtown, grunge and glamor, black and stunning color. Tam
and several fashionistas designated blue as the new black for their
spring collections.

Tam's unique talent for bringing Asian and American culture
together in fashion attracts many to her East Wind Code (meaning good
fortune and prosperity) shops in New York, Los Angeles, Japan, and Hong
Kong. Clients who admire her elegant, unconventional style include movie
stars and musicians, such as Alanis Morissette,

Bjork, Britney Spears, Fiona Apple, Lauryn Hill, Madonna, Neve
Campbell, Sandra Bullock, and Julia Roberts. Roberts commented to
People Weekly
in November 1998, "Tam's clothes are the perfect balance
of being simple but also unique."

At the New York SoHo store, with the help of a feng shui master, Tam
recreated her Chinese heritage for a distinctly Asian atmosphere, though
with Western touches. The Chinese character of double happiness
dominates the shop, along with Fu dogs, Ming chairs, an antique carved
screen, and a "red" wall. Red, as one of Tam's
favorite colors, features heavily in her décor and her designs.
Zany, imaginative clothing adorned with Mao, buddhas, dragons, peonies,
or mums combined with shimmering metallic or black fabrics and sequins
epitomize Tam's style. The prints and characters mark a spiritual
journey, one that has made Tam an accomplished trendsetter for
bicultural fashion design.

For those seeking insight into Tam's life and inspiration, she
wrote a book with Martha Huang entitled
China Chic.
Published in 2000 by Regan Books, the red coffee-table styled hardcover
is full of illustrations, photographs, and Tam's brand of
East-meets-West wisdom. To promote the book, Tam took over the Luk Yu
Tea House in Hong Kong, and invited both Eastern and Western luminaries.
"People
think this book is about my fashion, but it's not," Tam
told Mark Landler of the
New York Times
in December 2000. "It's about all the things I love:
furniture, gardens, spirituality, the body, health, city life."
The world of designer and author Vivenne Tam, like her book, is far
reaching and filled with the union of Eastern wisdom and Western
synergy.

—Kimbally A. Medeiros

Sydonie Benét

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